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Tribune News Network
Doha
The Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry has joined the International Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain, paving the way for private companies and QC members to apply for COs online by next year.
The announcement came at the International CO Council meeting held in Jaipur, India, recently. Director of International Relations and Chambers Affairs at Qatar Chamber and ICC Qatar Sheikha Tamader al Thani attended the meeting.
With its newly established status as a member of the CO Chain, which includes 560 members from 24 countries, Qatar Chamber will benefit from the use of the internationally recognised ICC CO label.
Qatar Chamber Director-General Saleh bin Hamad al Sharqi said QC would start issuing the certificates of origin online by the second quarter of 2019. However, he said, the chamber would not scrap issuing COs in paper as e-certificates are not accepted in several countries.
A certificate of origin is a document issued by QC to certify that the products meant for export from Qatar were wholly obtained, produced or manufactured in the country.
The e-certificates, Sharqi said, would further stimulate trade and boost non-oil exports from the country.
QC issued more than 25,339 certificates of origin in the first nine months of the current year, he said.
The system would save time and effort for businessmen and contribute to flourishing trade between Qatar and other countries, he added.
Sheikha Tamader said Qatar's accession to the ICC CO Accreditation Chain as the 24th member country will further promote and facilitate trade by implementing a universally accepted certification standard for the issuance of certificates of origin in the country.
The chamber would organise an awareness workshop in cooperation with ICC and ICC Qatar in January of 2019 to provide information on the ICC certificate of origin and the benefits it would provide to the Qatari business community, she added.
